Interview with Laurie London

Today we have Laurie London, author of Bonded by Blood on the blog for an interview and a giveaway *ended*! Make sure you head over to check out a review by Mad Scientist as well!

Thank you Laurie for stopping by!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your book?

I graduated with a business degree and worked as a tester/programmer for a Fortune 500 company before I quit to stay home with my babies. My oldest is now sixteen and both kids are taller than me—they’re not babies any longer! We live in the Seattle area on a couple of acres and when I’m not writing, I’m fussing with my horse.

Here’s the back cover blurb for BONDED BY BLOOD:

Deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest, two vampire coalitions battle for supremacy—Guardian enforcers who safeguard humanity and Darkblood rogues who kill like their ancient ancestors.

Now, Guardian team leader Dominic Serrano will be forced to choose between the vengeance he craves and the woman he can’t live without…

Movie location scout Mackenzie Foster-Shaw has always known that she’s cursed to die young. No one can protect her from the evil that has stalked her family for generations—vampires who crave her rare blood type. Until one afternoon in a wooded cemetery, she encounters an impossibly sexy stranger, a man she must trust with her life.

For Dominic, a man haunted by loss, Mackenzie satisfies a primal hunger that torments him—and the bond they share goes beyond heat, beyond love. She alone can supply the strength he needs to claim his revenge. But in doing so, he could destroy her…

What inspired you to write a paranormal romance?

Like many writers, I’ve tried writing several different genres. First was Middle Grade fiction, then YA, then Contemporary Romance, but it wasn’t until I started writing paranormal romance that I found my “writer’s voice” and things started clicking.

What are some of your other favorites? Any other genre you particularly enjoy?

I read a lot of YA today, and when my kids were younger, I read a lot of MG fiction. The premise of one of my MG fiction stories still intrigues me, so I plan to revisit it when I have some free time. I’m also in two book clubs, so I read a lot of literary fiction. Right now, I’m reading Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s SHADOW OF THE WIND and totally loving it. The descriptions are achingly vivid—it’s almost like reading poetry. I’m hosting book club next week and can’t WAIT to talk about the book.

How long did it take you to write Bonded By Blood?

It took me about three months to write the first draft and another few months to polish it up to send out to agents.

Do you have a favorite writing place?

I wish I had an office, but since my husband works from home and is on conference calls all day, he has the office and I work from the dining room. Sometimes I’ll pack up my laptop and write from a coffee shop.

What is your writing method, does the story come out as you write? Or do you do an outline and know the entire story before hand?

Before I sold BONDED, I hardly planned out anything. But now that I’ve sold and need to submit synopses for books I haven’t written yet, I’ve learned to plan out the story in advance.

What advice do you have for writer’s about writing or getting published?

Read a lot. While there are many great how-to books out there (I have a list of my favorites in the FAQ section on my website), in my opinion, there’s no substitute for reading the kinds of books you want to write. Not old classics, but recently published books. You’ll absorb how successful stories are paced and structured and what today’s readers and publishers of that genre expect. If there’s a book you don’t like, try to determine why it didn’t work for you (being in a book club or active on book blogs/forums can really help), then avoid doing the same thing in your own writing.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Thank you, Candace, for having me on today! I’d like to give away a signed copy of BONDED BY BLOOD to a random commenter.

The synopsis sounds awesome! I am a big fan of vampire novels and also a big fan of JR Ward and Jeaniene Frost:) Thank you for the advice, its always interesting to see how authors come up with the ideas and structure of their book.Thank you for the giveaway:)

I’m looking forward to reading your book. In one of Jeaniene Frost’s books there is a girl with rare blood or mixed where the vamps go crazy over it. It was a very good book. I look forward to reading about yours with rare blood =) Thanks for the chance to win.Tanyaw1224(at)yahoo(dot)com

Hi everyone, Thought I’d pop in a few days later and WHOA, look at all of you! Thanks for your interest in my books.

Victoria asked if any of those authors influenced my writing, and the answer is yes.

Most authors are big readers first. When I told an author friend of mine (Alexis Morgan) that I was writing about vampires and that I worried there were so many vampire stories out there, she encouraged me to please myself first and write what I wanted to write. So I did.

I dug deep and made note of the themes, character archetypes, pacing, emotion, and heat level of the books I liked to read and tried to duplicate it in my own writing. The first person I wanted to please was myself.

I really like this posts question format. Really easy to read and question/answers really pop out. Great interview. I’d love a chance to win this. How many books will their be if it’s part of a series?Sounds like a great story, I’m hooked Stephmartin71(at)yahoo(dot)com